


Home

by Cypher_4



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Christmas, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Modern AU, Shiro and Keith are brothers, There's Shallura, and some unknown characters later, idk what else, mildly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-03 16:28:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8720710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cypher_4/pseuds/Cypher_4
Summary: "I came here to invite you two to spend Christmas with my family, but since Shiro already has a thing, he suggested I bring you along so you're not a total loner this Christmas"Keith was only half listening to Lance, but he immediately wanted to stab Shiro with the spoon in his hand. He’d make it work."Oh- I-""You don't have plans, your brother said so"





	1. Mint

"Come on Keith, it'll be fun, you're going to enjoy it" Shiro was sitting at the end of the other males bed, who was curled into a ball beneath at least 30 blankets.  
Maybe just 3.  
But it looked like a lot, in Shiro's eyes anyway.

"I'm not going" Keith sneered, making a small gap between some blankets to check the clock.  
10:00 am.  
It was practically the bloody ass crack of dawn and his annoying brother was already shaking him awake for some stupid Christmas trip idea. 

Keith didn't like doing anything for Christmas ever since their parents passed.  
He'd been alone for too many Christmases, his first happy ones were with the Shirogane's, and now they were gone again. Takashi tried to bring the happiness back even after, but Keith locked himself away from it. 

"Come on, you like Allura, right?" said male pulled the bedsheets and blankets off of his brother, who gave an inhuman groan as he sat up only to pull them back up.  
Which he failed miserably at, considering Shiro was much bigger and stronger than he was, muscular and bare arms pulling them back with ease. He lost his grip on the fabric, the force of his own pull sending him back, his head knocking against the wall behind the head of his bed.  
"Fuck! See what you did! No, I don't want to go to your girlfriends family's house, that's weird!" He snapped, rubbing the back of his head and swinging his feet over the side of his bed, stomping away to the bathroom, the door slamming behind him.

Shiro sighed, it was morning, and Keith and mornings didn't mix too well.  
"Alright, just consider it, will you?" He called out at the closed door, a small grunt of acknowledgement coming from the other side of the door. Either that or it was a 'Fuck off', but he decided to take it in a good way. 

Keith took his time, sluggishly getting dressed, combing his hair with his fingers and tying it into a loose ponytail, his outfit barely coherent.  
He cared a lot about fashion, don't get him wrong, but winter mornings made him depressed, especially when he wasn't even going to do anything.  
He inhaled as he slipped on some socks, catching the most wonderful smell of coffee, but also a distinct chatter going on that wasn't coming from the background noise the living room tv was giving.  
With mild curiosity, he made his way out of his room, turning to make sure his door was shut.

"How is it that you were accepted to one of New York’s most prestigious fashion schools, but you walk out of your bedroom looking like you slipped on a trash bag and potato sacks on?" 

Keith narrowed his eyes at the voice, he knew who that was. 

"Shut the fuck up. Shiro what is McClain doing here? It's too early to see his face" Keith grumbled, walking past the tall male who was grinning at him with that stupid, handsome, face. 

"He had a really good offer you should take, Keith!" Shiro was walking around the counter of their kitchenette, a glass of milk in his hand. "Considering you don't want to come with me and Allura, and you'll be free this month"  
He smiled.  
And Keith wanted to scream.

"Oh yeah?" He only said, walking behind the counter, reaching for a bowl from a cupboard and the cereal on top of the refrigerator. 

"I came here to invite you two to spend Christmas with my family, but since Shiro already has a thing, he suggested I bring you along so you're not a total loner this Christmas"  
Keith was only half listening to Lance, but he immediately wanted to stab Shiro with the spoon in his hand. He’d make it work.

"Oh- I-"  
"You don't have plans, your brother said so"  
"Shit... where does your family live..?"  
"Illinois" Lance smiled, resting his elbows on the side of the counter, his chin on the back of his hands. 

"Illinois? That's like... far" Keith didn't want to think about time or distance, a groan leaving his lips. "I don't have money for a plane ticket"  
"Don't worry, Shiro already bought you a plane ticket, so you don't have to worry" 

Keith looked up at his brother, a murderous look in his eyes. What was his actual problem?  
Shiro only smiled sweetly in return, and if it wasn't for that calm, happy smile, Keith would've already punched him in the face. 

"The airport is about an hour away, how are we even getting there? I don't have transit fare, and Shiro already spent too much on me for this” The shorter male narrowed his eyes, arching one eyebrow, completely ignoring his older brother.  
“On Rosy”  
“Your junk piece of a car?”  
"Hey, do not hate on my jeep, she's sensitive"  
"Last time we went anywhere on that thing it was to the beach and we hardly all fit and it broke down like three times. And the beach is only like 30 minutes away, Lance"  
"Ok, well, it'll just be two people in Rosy now; with luggage, and I fixed her up beforehand! Oil change, new tires, washed her, she's ready for a little short drive and ready to wait for our return!"  
"Please stop calling it a she"

Shiro had only sat back as he watched the two bicker, a small knowing smile on his lips as he sighed, clearing his throat to interrupt.  
"Ok, hey guys?" He waved a hand up, the two boys looking over to him.  
"I have to run down to the store and pick up some last minute trip stuff for me and Allura, we leave tomorrow morning" he looked at Keith.  
"Tomorrow? But it's barely December 3rd tomorrow!" Keith looked distraught.  
The holidays were never a happy time for him, and knowing he'd have to spend even more days without Shiro than usual was horrible.

"Hey don't worry, so are you" Lance chipped in. "Let's go to your room, I'll help you pack up"  
"Wait- wait- What!? I didn't even agree to go with you!" Keith narrowed his eyes.  
"You did now, ticket bought, you can't back out" Shiro hummed, pushing his younger brother towards his bedroom, waving for Lance to follow, who only did as told. 

Packing up took up most of the day, Lance kept trying on clothes he found and liked, Keith yelling at him to take it off before he stretched it out, wondering just how Keith managed to own so many designer brand outfits and shoes, when he and Shiro's apartment looked the way it did. 

"Do you have a job?" Lance blurted out as he picked up a shirt, checking out the design on the front, a logo, 'Givenchy'.  
He googled it on his phone, wheezing.

"Not really, most of my earnings are rom freelance work I've done for people. Commission work" Keith looked up, shutting the suitcase he'd been packing up, "We split up a portion of our income to pay for the apartment" he answered the unasked question in Lance's head.

"Why don't you save up to get like, a better apartment?"  
"Because our parents gave us this one... it was our fathers before he met our mother, they kept it for us, they didn't get a chance to personally give it to us, but it was in their will... we've thought about getting like, a loft or condo, since we can, but we can't leave this place.."  
"Ah, I see.. well, that's understandable-"  
"Yeah, so, what time are we leaving tomorrow?" Keith didn't hesitate to change the subject, sitting on the edge of his bed.  
"I'll be here to pick you up at 5”  
“In the evening?”  
“In the morning”

Keith groaned, rubbing both of his eyes, he already felt tired for Christ’s sake.  
“Alright..”  
“Don't make that face! You can sleep on the way there” Lance laughed, his hands resting on his hips. “I'm gonna get going, I have a few last things to pack up still, I'll see you tomorrow?”  
“Yeah, see you tomorrow… should I-?”  
“Nah, I’ll show myself out” Lance waved a hand, making his way out of Keith's bedroom, leaving the other male sitting at the edge of his bed, tugging at his sleeves.  
What the hell was he going to do now?

Shiro came back home around 4 in the evening, at least 4 grocery bags in each hand.  
Keith was sitting at the kitchenette counter, a bag of potato chips beside him, his sketchbook open to two pages, each side full of scribbles and notes, colors and designs for shirts and jackets, as well as multiple logo design sketches aligning a sheet on the table beside the sketchbook. 

Shiro placed everything on the other side of the counter, walking over and leaning over the other male, hunched over, cross legged on one of the tall stools.  
“So you decided to use ‘Kogane’?” He hummed, stealing a chip from the bag. 

“Yeah, I figured it would be catchy” Keith mumbled, looking up from his work. “What do you need all that for?” He pointed his pencil at the groceries, shoving a few chips into his mouth. 

“Allura and I are actually going to drive all the way to Florida with her family” Shiro smiled. “But we’ll be going up to Chicago to spend New Years with you and Lance’s family, since he was kind enough to think of us for the holidays, he promised an unforgettable party” he smiled, beginning to dig around and take the items out.

“Driving down to Florida? Wow” Keith hummed, rubbing his temples.  
“How am I going to survive a near month with Lance?” 

“I thought your ‘rivalry’ was a thing of the past, forgotten in High School?” Shiro arched an eyebrow, leaning against the counter.  
“Well, I mean- Yeah, but it's Lance, he's still annoying and he's still so-“  
“You still like him”  
“Uh.. yeah.. kind of..”  
“Now’s your big chance to get closer then!”  
“Lance is straight”  
“Has he confirmed that?” 

Keith looked at Shiro, narrowing his eyes, sighing and smashing his face down into his sketchbook, cheek smushed and blocking his words as he spoke.  
“No, but it /radiates/ off the man. And I've never seen him flirt with anything that doesn't have boobs”  
“What about Nyma? She was pretty flat-“  
“Shiro”  
“I'm just trying to be helpful!”  
“I don't need that… I should get some sleep, he's picking me up at 5 tomorrow morning”  
“What time is your flight?”

Keith shut his sketchbook, tucking it under his arm, snatching up his pencils, leaving the chip bag where it was.  
“Shouldn't you know? You bought the ticket”  
“I only bought the one he pointed at, I didn't check times”  
“Ugh… 8 I think..”  
“I'll be up to see you off then! I'm picking Allura up at 7, so I oughta be up anyway”  
“’Kay.. Night Shiro” Keith began walking down to his bedroom, the first door in the small hallway.  
“Goodnight Keith” 

 

"Rise and Shine! It's time to get your pretty princess ass out of bed and onto Rosy!!”  
Keith had never wanted to punch anything more than he wanted to punch Lance at that very moment. His mind vaguely registering the fact Lance had just called him princess.  
“Shiro let me in” the man who was currently shaking up Keith's bed and pushing at him said smugly, that shit-eating grin the first sight Keith saw as he cracked open his eyes. 

“Lance- what the fuck it's 4:30 in the morning, you said 5!” Keith growled.  
“When I said ‘pick you up at 5’ it literally meant, you should be ready by the door at 4:59 so we can load and leave at 5:01!”  
“That- What is wrong with you!?” Keith grumbled as he sat up, keeping the blanket around himself, he was too cold for this.  
“Get dressed, I’ll load Rosy up with your luggage” Lance chirped as he began carrying out the two large suitcases he and Keith had filled up the previous day. 

Keith willed himself to sluggishly make his way into his bathroom, splashing cold water onto his face, jerking a little and swearing as it was too cold, too much of an awakening.  
He was always too cold anyway. 

He combed through his hair, pulling it back into a small ponytail and walking back to his room to change into some warm, comfortable clothes that could last him an entire hour cramped in a jeep and another2 hours cramped in an airplane.  
Black Nike leggings and an oversized black Moschino hoodie with some white converse that had seen better days came in first place for that. 

As he walked out of his bedroom with an extra backpack hanging off of his shoulder, his nose picked up a chocolatey mint scent.  
Mint.  
Shiro smelled of mint a lot, Keith really liked that. 

“Ah, so he is awake, and finally back into casual fashion, unlike yesterday” said older male was leaning against the counter, a mug in hands, another mug on the table in front of him.  
“Good morning sunshine!” Lance called from the couch, a mug in his own hands. 

“Hey… what'd you make?” Keith yawned, climbing onto a high stool, picking up a mug he assumed was for him.  
Mornings were amazing with an older brother who worked full time a barista.

“Mint Mocha” Shiro said proudly, and Keith hummed, his lips already on the mug, taking a drink, enjoying the smell and the warm, slightly thick liquid that only Shiro could manufacture.  
“Good?” 

Keith hummed again, another clear sign of enjoyment, it certainly woke him up in a much more pleasant way.

“You ready to go?” Lance stood up, walking over and setting his now empty mug on the table top, Shiro taking it and turning to discard it in the sink. 

“Yeah, ready” finally the shorter male spoke, sliding off of the stool, walking beside Shiro and placing his mug into the sink as well, avoiding the soapy water as his brother washed out the cups. 

“You'll take care of my baby brother, right Lance?” Shiro laughed, looking over at the other.  
“Yeah! Yeah, he'll be in plenty of good hands, trust me” Lance laughed lightly.  
“I'll see you next year then?” The older male laughed ,turning his attention to the shorter. Keith only groaned at the over used joke.  
“Yeah, next year” he turned back to slide his backpack onto his shoulders, Shiro walking behind him. 

 

Lance watched from the side of the counter as Shiro took Keith into his arms, in a big, tight warm hug, Keith actually hugging back.  
He felt like an intruder in a very intimate moment. So slowly, he took a few steps back.  
“I'll be waiting outside!” He called as he left the apartment, going down the hall towards the elevator, down 4 floors and put towards the apartment complex parking lot. 

 

Shiro let go of Keith, keeping a hand on his shoulder as he lead him out to the doorway.  
“I'm gonna miss you” Keith mumbled, very quietly, his fingers rubbing against the back of his neck, tugging at his ponytail.  
“I'm gonna miss you too buddy, but you'll see me in less than a month! Think of it like a vacation from me!” Shiro laughed.  
Keith smiled a bit, nodding at that, stepping out of the apartment finally, a yawn escaping his lips.  
“See you then” he agreed, high-fiving Shiros outstretched hand.

 

Lance perched up on his seat as Keith approached the jeep, sliding into the passenger seat, lugging his back pack behind his seat, looking at the other male.  
“Alrighty, let's go!” Lance declared, starting up the car, who grumbled as it was pulled up to life, the radio turning on, Lance’s phone connected to an aux cord, inside of a cassette tape. 

“Where do you even get this?” Keith arched an eyebrow at the old device as Lance pushed it in with a finger, putting his phone on shuffle, the calm piano notes of ‘Faded’ starting up. 

“7/11” Lance replied smugly, chuckling when Keith yawned once more. “You can sleep on the way, I think traffic is smooth so we'll get there in about 40 minutes” he hummed.  
“Alright, sounds like a good plan” Keith mumbled, the calm, soothing, almost hypnotic beat of the song picking up, his eyes dropping as the melody lulled him.  
He was so damn cute. 

Lance blinked as his cheeks heated up, shaking his head, and looking forward as he backed out of the parking space, the car rumbling out of the lot. 

 

Keith had ended up sleeping throughout most of the entire ride to the airport, at times his eyes parting open slightly to look at the road in front of them, to check the time.  
The final time he did, he continue to pretend to sleep, listening as Lance sung along to a Spanish song, he didn't know what it said, but the melody was soft, and the others voice was so soothing, so calming.  
He was drifting to sleep again when he felt a shake on his shoulder, Lance looking over at him, head tilted. 

“Wake up Sleeping Beauty, we’re here” he had this huge dorky smile, it made Keith give a small chuckle as he pushed him over a bit, completely ignoring the pet name.  
“Mm… What time does the plane take off?” He yawned, reaching behind him to pull out the leather backpack, slinging it over his shoulders before getting out of the car, slamming the door carefully, its hinges creaking menacingly. 

“At 8:00… it’s 6:59 right now, so we've got time to eat some breakfast and go to out waiting room with plenty of time to spare until they call us up” Lance walked around to the back doors, pulling out their suitcases, 5 in total, 2 from him and 3 from Keith, who was a lot more concerned about outfits than he was. 

Mounting a the smaller bag that contained his shoes over a larger one, Keith pulled all three of his together, Lance catching up and walking beside him with his own two after saying goodbye to ‘Rosy’.

They rolled in through the automatic doors, following the signs that led them through the large, busy building.  
Checking in and dropping off their baggage was a surprisingly quick process, they were one of the first people to arrive, only having to wait behind a family and a couple. 

“Alright, 40 minutes, 30 if we want to get the the waiting room early, what do you feel like eating? I'm buying” Lance asked once they finally found the food court, leaning against one of the pillars that surrounded the area.  
“Uh… a sausage biscuit sounds really good right about now..” Keith's eyes laid on the McDonalds, the most popular apparently, since it had the longest line, but it was moving rapidly.  
“Alrighty, then I'm totally down for some breakfast burritos for myself” the taller male grinned, beginning to walk over, Keith following behind him. 

“Where are we eating?” Keith was looking over the mass amount of people on the tables in the middle of the food court, sighing, he really didn't want to eat standing, he still felt tires as hell.  
“Follow me, me and my siblings always go over here” Lance began walking, this time pulling Keith along with him, his fingers around his wrist, the other male following obediently.  
They reached the phone booth area, multiple phones set side by side by side, with seats, and wooden walls separating them, almost like restaurant booths but with no table.  
Lance sat at one of the phone booths at the corner, Keith sitting at the one directly beside his, their backs to each other, but they both sat sideways, their knees touching. 

“Are we allowed to eat here?” Keith began unwrapping his biscuit after retrieving it from the bag, setting it on his lap.  
“Who knows” Lance said, already taking a bite out of his burrito. 

Keith stared at the biscuit in his hands, his mind thinking back to a time when he was 15, Shiro had taken him to McDonalds at 3 in the morning for ice cream, with terrible news to inform him.  
“Why did you invite me?” He mumbled suddenly, lifting the biscuit up, taking a bite. 

Lance looked over at him, peering over the wall that separated them as he leant forward.  
“What do you mean?” He finished chewing.

“I mean like… I never imagined you to show up and invite us to spend Christmas and New Years with your family.. it's weird, not that I don't appreciate it”  
“Well, I see your point, it's pretty fair… It just kind of occurred to me… you turned 21 a few months ago and I thought about… you know, your parents and how lonely you or Shiro might feel… No offense”  
“None taken. I… I'm not good at coping with things, so usually holidays are hell, so I hope this… I hope Shiro pushing me into this, will be a good thing” Keith chuckled, finishing the small biscuit.  
“I hope it's a good thing too” Lance stood up, stretching and yawning. “Man, I can't wait to sleep for about 3 hours”  
“Should we get going to our waiting room?” Keith stood up as well, securing the backpack around his shoulders, it would be their only carry on item.  
“Yep, let's get a move on” 

Boarding the plane was swift, finding their seats even easier. The hard part was finding their designated waiting room, running around a few halls as time began running short. Lots of “Where the hell is 5B, why isn't it next to 4B?!” And “Wait wait we’re in the C’s now?!”  
After running in circles, Keith finally asked an officer for help, who very kindly pointed them in the right direction, Lance throwing a few winks and flirts, which Keith found absolutely ridiculous and absurd, pulling the taller male away from the officer, her eyes only wrinkling as she laughed lightly, clearly embarrassed. 

“You're so annoying sometimes” Keith grumbled as they sat down, taking the window seat.  
“What? You jealous I don't flirt with ya?” Lance grinned, teasingly of course, but a nag at the back of his head was yelling at him that he was treading dangerous waters.  
“No! I just don't want to deal with your ass every time someone rejects you” Keith sunk down comfortably into his seat.  
“It's not like you’re my go to for when that happens, that's what I have Hunk and Pidge for!”  
“Your alleged best friends?”  
“What do you mean ‘alleged’, they exist! I grew up with them in Joliet!”  
“Uh huh, I have no proof of their physical existence”  
“You’ve seen pictures of me with them on Facebook!”  
“Photoshop?”  
“Isn't that something you'd do, Mr.Loner?” Lance snickered, a grin spreading over his lips.  
“Why are you so convinced I don't have friends?” “Because you don't?”  
“I do have friends!”  
“Like?”  
“Nyma and Rolo!”  
“The hot model and gay fashion designer, surprise, surprise”  
Keith rolls his eyes, deciding to cut the conversation short then, seeing a flight attendant walk up to them with a smile, offering them blankets and headphones, both gratefully taking them. 

“Gonna catch some Z’s?” Lance yawned as Keith began opening the packet with the blanket inside, doing the same.  
“Hell, I'm gonna catch more than just ‘some’” he yawned, making Lance yawn automatically.  
“Good plan, sleep tight, Keith”  
“Sleep tight, Lance”


	2. Vanilla

“I’m gonna puke.” Lance was gripping Keith's arm, his mouth twisted into a grimace.  
“Lance- please go to the bathroom.” Keith spoke in a hushed tone.  
Keith hadn't minded when the airplane took off, in fact he hardly even felt it, having already dosed off, but Lance had definitely felt it.  
He was nauseated for about the whole trip, Keith waking up to a slightly paler and uncomfortable Lance, who had his headphones popped on, staring at one of the screens, seeing some random Christmas movie being played.  
“I don't wanna get up-“ Lance wheezed out, his hand on his chest, the unease in his stomach threatening to spill with any movement, building up nastily in his throat, like a knot of gross taste.

“For the love of- Lance go.” Keith pushed his shoulder a bit, causing the other male to make a noise that almost made Keith gag, he really didn't want to have to deal with the contents of Lance’s breakfast all over their seats.  
As a result to Lance’s refusal, he raised a hand, calling over one of the Flight Attendants, politely asking for some water, and maybe even a bag, and after looking Lance up and down once, the girl gave an understanding nod and smiled, walking towards the back and returning with both. 

 

The landing, thankfully, was always a lot smoother, and it was coming soon. By then, Lance had finally managed to calm his stomach down, his cup in hand, already empty from every sip he took. Keith had fallen asleep, again, and he couldn't understand how it was possible for someone to sleep so much. Not that he currently minded, the others head draping to one side, against his shoulder to be exact, small enough somehow to fit in the seat with his feet up. He was pretty sure that wasn't allowed, but no one noticed it yet, and he wasn't about to disturb him. 

He glanced up as he pushed his food tray up, clicking it up to the back of the seat in front of him, holding his cup up to his hands and popping his earphones off.

“Are you feeling better, Sir?” The stewardess that had helped him earlier with the water and bag was standing beside them, and he jumped a little at the unexpected appearance.  
“Oh, yeah, thank you for that.” He offered a smile, lifting his cup to emphasize.  
“I can take that- We’ll be landing soon, so you should wake up your boyfriend.” She said kindly, mostly to get the others feet off of the seat.  
“Alright, thanks again.” Lance offered, watching her go after taking the cup, taking a moment until his mind finally registered that she'd called Keith his boyfriend.  
He sputtered out a very late, very quiet, “He's not my boyfriend.” at absolutely no one, considering the girl was already gone.  
He sighed, rubbing one of his eyes, turning around, gently shaking the other male, who in return gave a small groan.  
“Rise and Shine, it's almost time to get off.” 

 

The whole process of going through security again and retrieving luggage and finding a taxi and whatnot was an absolute bore. And putting on the whole getup of scarves and hats and jackets and gloves was even more tedious, knowing they'd have to step out to a fresh fall of snow, just the welcome gift they needed to emphasize “’Tis the Season!”.  
Keith was pretty sure he'd die by the end of the entire thing, his stomach giving a light growl as he watched Lance chatter with the taxi driver, trying to make the best of the 50 minute drive.  
At least the driver was nice.  
She was a pretty girl, broad shoulders, muscular, Keith was fairly sure she could kick his ass, and by the looks of where her head rose over, she was tall. The drivers license on the back of the seat stating her name, Lance calling her “Shay” almost casually as if they'd been the best of friends for years. 

After they started talking about what type of cake frosting was better, and Keith knew Lance was too passionate over food to ever back away from a culinary related argument, he decided to let himself get lost and stare out the window.  
The voices slowly muted themselves, concentrated instead on the streets, at the wavy snow that covered the sidewalks, the slush it became on the road where cars ran over continuously, leaving it a wet, dirty brown.  
He watched the highway turn into city, the city fade into fields, the fields shifting to towns, and finally passing in through the suburbs. 

“So you're studying to be a chef?” Shays voice broke Keith out of his staring, realizing they were close to the end of their trip.  
“Yeah, I love food, love it… Keith here is going to Fashion school” Lance swung his arm around the other, startling him a bit at the sudden contact, looking towards the rear view mirror and meeting the girls eyes, giving a small smile and nod.  
“Really? That's really cool! I'm glad you guys are doing what you love, I wish I had the chance, but I'm slowly saving up to get into school!” She talked excitedly, branching off onto what she wanted to major in.  
Lance was paying attention, of the most part, up until his eyes caught a glance of the sign that directed they had entered Joliet, feeling warm and excited as he began to recognize the streets. 

The McClain household was a fairly large and slightly aged house at the end of the neighborhood, surrounded by a large lot on one side, and an even larger backyard, unlike the rest of the houses, the garage was located to the back, a driveway leading towards the side of the house and then garage.  
It was an older house than the surrounding ones, it’s atmosphere looked more serene, more welcoming and home-y, Keith thought. 

“Thank you for actually giving us this long ass ride!” Lance gave the driver a bundle of money, smiling at her, the girl smiling back.  
“It was nice! Merry Christmas!” She called back as they unloaded their luggage from the trunk, shuffling across the snow towards the front of the house, Lance waving her off as she drove off, Keith giving an awkward wave back to her as well. 

The place was flooding with an almost sickening sense of domesticity and warmth, something Keith could feel and see.  
Worn out, wooden porch, with creaky steps protesting underneath the soles of their shoes as Lance led them up to the faded, wine colored door.  
The house was a creamy shade of brown, very welcoming, very pleasing to look at despite its achy wood and disheveled roof tiles, Keith had to admit he loved it already.

Upon entering, the hallway led down towards what he assumed was the kitchen, able to see a stove far back. The living room was directly to the right, and the dining room to the left, a set of stairs at the corner of the living room.  
His eyes scanned over the objects where the setting sunlight spilled through, the orange bouncing off the snow outside and melting into the room like creamer in a coffee. 

Speaking of which, he couldn't help but notice the stronger but very delicious scent of vanilla. Like Lance.  
In the many times in which they'd brawled and tumbled around yelling at each other, Keith had caught a very faint Vanilla fragrance coming from under the cologne Lance wore. The vanilla... it was very...Lance-y, now that he was in his home.  
He vaguely wondered what he smelled like, what his special fragrance that every person had uniquely was. And he subconsciously hoped it was a good scent, like strawberry or lavender.  
But growing up in multiple foster homes before landing with the Shirogane's, made him suddenly feel self conscious about maybe never having had a scent that was the same as his home, maybe he'd been in too many to keep one, or maybe they all mixed together and smelled horrible. 

"You ok?" Lance arched an eyebrow, looking at the shorter male, whose face looked absolutely distraught.  
"What-? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Keith shook his head a little, trying to stop thinking about weird things for once and focus on anything else.  
Unfortunately it worked, and it's unfortunate because he began to focus on /Lance/.  
"You looked kind of zoned out.. anyway, want a quick tour of the place then we can unpack?" He pointed towards several directions of the house as he spoke, blue eyes gazing over what now looked like a very flustered Keith.  
What was wrong with this guy?  
"Um, yeah, sounds good." Keith nodded, trying to branch off into a better conversation, trying not to be completely awkward.  
"It smells nice."  
Nice going, Keith.

Lance snorted, holding in a small laugh but letting it go once they reached the end of the hall, entering the kitchen, as Keith had guessed.  
"Really? My mothers vanilla fragrance obsession must have paid off then." he cracked a grin, Keith smiling a bit in return. 

‘Ask him now’, Keith thought, ‘then you can get it out of your head’.  
He opened his mouth, ready to ask what he smelled like, but Lance, looking through the refrigerator, beat him to speaking.  
"So, this is the McClain kitchen, a sacred place, because no one really even eats in the dining room, everyone cramps up over there, too many stories have happened here." he explained, walking back with two cokes, handing one to Keith, opening the one for himself and nearing a round wooden table near some patio doors.  
Keith followed, fingertips resting on the top of the table, tracing over the light dents of what could be silverware and plate scratches amongst other miscellaneous objects that could've ever hit the table. 

He looked over towards the hall that connected to the living room, his eyes immediately landing on a large piece of paper, in a black frame.  
The paper have various handprints that covered all over, a name scrawled next to them.

"What's that?" He arched an eyebrow, walking over to it, Lance following behind him.  
"The family tree" the taller male said proudly.  
Now standing in close proximity, Keith noticed all the handprints were on top of what looked like a long black tree trunk; the hands meaning to resemble leaves. “All members of the family have placed their handprints around the trunk, starting with my grandparents, holding the bottom of the it, it's kind of corny, but my dad thought up the idea, since then, new relatives like babies and married spouses put their hands on it with green paint, we want to see how big it gets.”

As Lance explained, Keith noticed how heartfelt his words were, how much this tree meant to him, and the whole family, suddenly feeling like he was intruding, like this was too much of an intimate item for him to deserve any sort of explanation for. Lance, however, didn't seem to mind sharing the fond family painting, so listening seemed like the best option.

“This one’s my handprint, I put it there when I was 10.” The taller pointed at a small, blue hand, near the centered outer ‘leaves’ of the the tree shape, Keith noticing smaller ones under his, three exactly.  
“And those?” He questioned, pointing at the other three hands.  
“My siblings! The neon green one is Gerardo’s, he's the second oldest, 16, the pink one is Arsenia’s and the yellow one next to it is Jonathan’s, they're the youngest, twins, 14.” He explained.

Keith opened his mouth to ask again but they both jumped out of their skins as Lance’s phone buzzed, the default ring loud and breaking through the comfortable silence. 

“¿Bueno?” Lance brought the phone up to his ear, motioning for Keith to follow him.  
He led them back to the front of the house, lifting up their luggage, Keith dragging his own up, then towards the set of stairs at the side of the living room he'd noticed earlier.  
Keith listened to the other male talking into his phone, he didn't understand Spanish, in fact he never even once took a class, he'd taken French in high school, and what a mistake that was, it was still absolutely useless, but at the time, his head was full of dreams of going to Paris Fashion week, and spending time in the culture. What a dream. 

“Alright, they'll be home in about 30 minutes, they went out to the grocery store because my mom was freaking out over what she should make us for dinner.” Lance leaned over as he set their bags down near his bed. 

The bedroom was large, slanted from one side, being the room at the corner of the second floor. The walls were a faded baby blue, with a creamy, light brown carpet. The walls had a bunch of pictures hung up on a string, most of Lance’s family and friends, a few music related posters. His shelves had a few books, but mostly overflowed with a bunch of vinyl records, the record player at the bottom shelf, a bit dusty. 

“Why would she panic about that?” Keith asked as he set his things down, looking at the size of the bed. It was a twin size. 

“She wants to make a good impression on you.” Lance laughed, walking to a small closet on the side of the room, taking out a hunch of blankets.  
“You can take the bed, I’ll sleep on the floor, by the way.” He added, beginning to later up the unrolled blankets now to the side of the bed, creating a makeshift place to sleep.

“No- I mean, I'll sleep on the floor, you don't have to worry! I mean, I'm the guest-“  
“Precisely, that's why I take the floor.”  
“No! I'll take it.”  
“No.”  
“Yes.” 

In the end, Keith managed to launch himself onto the makeshift bed on the floor first, refusing to move until Lance finally agreed to just sleep in his bed.  
They were in the middle of unpacking and setting things into place when the sound of tires rolling over crisp snow and ice melting salt was heard vaguely over the music Lance had put on at a low, enjoyable volume, calm EDM songs rolling out through the speakers.  
The front door opened and the sound of chatter immediately burst in through the hallway, all the way up to Lance’s bedroom, the other male smiling brightly and looking towards his bedroom door.

“Hijo! Ya llegamos!” A voice called, Lance’s mom, Keith guessed. 

“C’mon!” Lance jumped around, “Let's go!” hand wrapping around a very nervous Keith's wrist, pulling him up and out of the room, down towards the sound of new voices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Geughhh short chapter--
> 
> Thanks for coming back! Or for joining for the first time. I hope you enjoyed this one. I hope it isn't rushed or anything, and after this week, I'll be uploading much more consistently, not just on Thursdays, mostly because I want to keep up with real time, and I didn't realize Christmas and New Years are approaching at sonic speed, so yeah
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for the initial support! I hesitated a lot in uploading this and have most major parts of the fic written already (I've had them since like October), but now I'm working on developing and getting a good short story rolling. 
> 
> In case you're wondering, you can bother me here!: 
> 
> Tumblr: http://nkiv3s.tumblr.com  
> Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/nkiv3s
> 
> Thanks guys!


	3. Rice

Being pulled down the stairs by someone with slightly longer legs than oneself was a very difficult task, Keith learned, nearly tripping and rolling, stumbling to a stop as Lance let go of his hand, leaving him to catch himself against the railing. His eyes scanned across the living room, seeing three younger kids playing near the entrance as they unwrapped themselves from their layers of winter clothing, remembering the Family Tree Lance had explained to him and identifying who was who, more or less. He turned his attention back to said male, who currently had his arms wrapped around a woman, she was fairly tall, standing only a couple inches shorter than Lance, around Keith’s own height. Her eyes were a honey brown, with brown, wavy, hair the same shade as her sons, if not darker, their skin colors more or less around the same tone.   
“I’ve missed you so much!” Her smile reminded Keith a lot of the smile Lance so rarely offered when he wasn’t smiling cockily over something.   
“I’ve missed you too, Ma’.” Lance smiled, looking at his siblings, “Are you guys ever going to say ‘Hi’ to me at least?”   
“Of course!” the younger girl was the first to bounce over to Lance, her hair was a sandy, blonde, wavy like her mothers. Her eyes a flash of blue, almost the same as Lance’s, but much lighter and her skin was similarly much lighter compared to her older brother and her mothers.   
The two boys behind immediately ran over as soon as their boots were kicked off, tackling Lance.   
Keith quickly identified which one was the twin to the girl, now at closer proximity, his hair, cut into a fade and a mess from a hat he’d been wearing before, sticking out at all directions, was the same sandy blonde, their eyes were an identical shade of blue, their skin melting together as they hugged Lance together.  
The slightly taller one, almost as tall as Lance then, looked very similar to his older brother, the same mischievous eyes, same challenging grin. His hair was a bit longer than Lances, curling up at the nape of his neck, falling over his face, much straighter than his younger siblings’ hair, the shade a same dark brown as the mother. His eyes however, were a kind of dark green, his skin a bit lighter than Lance’s. 

"Oh! Lance! Why haven't you introduced me to your friend?” Keith broke out of his observations, turning to see Lance’s mother smiling at him. He felt mildly embarrassed, only able to smile back a bit crookedly.  
“Ma’, this is Keith! Been one of my buddies since I moved.” The taller boy weaved himself back to Keith, throwing his arm around the others shoulders, shaking him a little, hand patting against his arm.  
He felt a little overwhelmed, something strange tugging and churning in his chest at the contact and the announcement, at the word ‘buddies’.

“It's nice to meet you Keith, I'm Alma!” the woman outstretched her hand, Keith taking it to shake but instead was surprised as he was pulled in for a hug and a kiss on the cheek.   
“Hu-Hey-! Nice to meet you too Ma’am.” He nodded a bit as he returned the hug, a bit stiffly.  
“Hi! I’m Arsenia! But you can call me Arsi!” the younger girl who was there skipped over to him, also leaping to give him a hug and a kiss, his cheeks burning in the embarrassment and the sudden invasiveness of personal space. But for some reason, he didn't mind.   
“Hey, what's u-“ he hardly finished the sentence when her twin brother came dashing towards him, tackling him with a hug and a pat on the back.  
“Finally! Meeting the famous Keith! I'm Jonathan.” The boy smiled as he stepped back.  
“Famous?” He arched an eyebrow, looking back at Lance, who was suddenly too busy looking elsewhere.  
“Lance has told us a few stories before.” The second oldest boy chuckled, “I’m Gerardo, the cool one.” He grinned, giving him a hand shake and pulling him in for a quick, one armed, hug. “Nice to meet you.”   
“Thanks for having me over, it uh, it means a lot.” He probably could've sounded more heartfelt, but Alma was satisfied with the gratitude.  
“Well, thank you for coming! We're always happy to have guests… Now everyone, he ready for dinner, you have 30 minutes to go off and do whatever until then!” She ordered, arms waving around, turning towards the hallway and making her way down to the kitchen. 

“So, how about we shower an change out of this. I smell like airplane.” Lance jerked his head towards the direction of the second floor, Keith nodding and following him back up the stairs, his siblings scurrying up ahead of them into their respective bedrooms, an obvious excitement running over the whole house. 

 

Keith was anxious. It was the first dinner with Lance's family, and he was almost positive he'd have to talk about himself. What the hell was he supposed to say?   
His own self-perception was too low to talk about himself... But his work was easier to talk about; Fashion. He could talk about his designs and ideas and achievements.  
But then... Would that be too self-centered and cocky? Would it even be interesting?   
He must've looked sick, because a sudden slap on the shoulder made him jump in his seat as Lance sat next to him. 

"Hey? You alright? You're looking kind of green, I promise, my mom’s cooking is the absolute best!" the other male grinned at him, and he smiled back a bit crookedly.  
"It's not that- no- it smells really good... I was just thinking."   
"About?"  
"Later." he shook his head as a clink on the table caught both their attentions, Lance's mother placing a rather large pot over a table cloth in the center. 

"Niños! Ya está la comida!" She called out, looking at Keith and smiling at him.  
"I hope you like rice." she smiled as she uncovered the pot, a steaming mixture of what looked like rice, chicken, bell peppers, corn, peas and tomatoes. The chicken looked appetizing, and the rice was a warm, delicious orange.  
Keith was so ready to dig in.  
"I-I do, yeah." he said a bit quietly, a small smile on his lips, his fingers resting on the edge of the table, unsure if he should just dump a bunch of it on his plate or wait.  
He couldn't help the light smile as he heard the tumbles and yells of the teens from the second floor, their steps loud as they ran down the stairs, showing up a bit disheveled to the round kitchen table. 

"Gerardo, call your dad please? He's in the garage." Alma smiled at the teenager, who was wrestling with the smaller boy, Jonathan.   
"What? Why me!?" Gerardo groaned, "We just got home! What's he doing in the garage!?" He waved his hands around.   
"Gera, you better go out there before Ma takes away your dinner privileges." Lance grinned, leaning forward on the table, reaching for the spoon and dumping some rice into Keith's plate first, putting some in his own.   
"Why doesn't Lance go?" The boy gave a small pout.  
"Because he is attending his friend! And you are older than Arsenia and Jonathan, which is why I rely on you now, ándale, apúrale!" The woman waved a spoon at the boy, who wheezed and jogged to the front of the house, rumbling around as he slid on snow boots and pulled on a thick jacket, jogging all the way back and out through one of patio doors, quick to close it again. 

"Ooh!" A squeal startled everyone in the kitchen, all eyes looking at the girl who took a seat on the other side of Keith. "I love your outfit! Is your jacket Dolce and Gabbana?" Her eyes were shining, and Keith felt his cheeks flush at finding someone who finally understood him and his interests.  
"Yes, it is... how did you know that?"   
"She wants to be a model." Jonathan cut in, sitting across from them, "So she's always looking at expensive designer clothes she can't afford." he grinned.   
"I will one day!" Arsi narrowed her eyes at her brother.  
"You should see her room, it's full of cutouts from runway magazines, I should've mentioned I had a family member with similar interests." Lance chuckled beside him.   
"Oh, that's really cool." Keith looked over at her, "I'm studying to be a fashion designer."   
The girls’ eyes brightened up, jumping in her seat.  
"Really!? Wow! That's so cool! Lance! Why didn't you tell me your friend was cool!?"   
"It might've slipped," Lance shrugged, "And if I'd told you he was a fashion designer in training you would've really outdone yourself to make an entrance."   
"So the dramatic flair does run in the family." Keith noted, to which Alma laughed as she walked to sit down next to Jonathan, two empty seats left for Gerardo and Mr. McClain, whom Keith hadn't met yet. 

"That smells great!" There was a voice as Gera came shooting into his seat after throwing his boots and jacket off at the front of the house, immediately itching his fingers to grab the spoon, but Arsi was in the middle of serving herself, the grab causing a bit of bickering.  
"Oh! Is this the friend you told us about, Lance?" 

The man was tall, and slender, Keith noted, built similarly to how all the men in the family were. His face was very much like Lance's, long, handsome features, but his skin was pale, more like Arsenia and Jonathans’ pale skin. His hair was a light brown, almost blonde, the same shade as the Twins’ hair; and his eyes were that attention grabbing ocean blue, exactly like Lance's eyes, who Keith noticed was the only one who'd caught the color just as intensely. 

"Dad, this is Keith, Keith this is dad." Lance motioned from one to the other, a fork full of rice and chicken in his mouth.   
"Don't talk with your mouth full!" Alma scolded.   
"Hey Keith, I'm Sam." he smiled, reaching forward, palm outstretched.   
Keith moved his hand up, taking the others hand and shaking it, vaguely embarrassed.   
"Hi, it's nice to meet you sir." Keith mumbled, his hand dropping to his lap when Sam let go.   
The tall man lumbered to the front of the house, coming back in dry sneakers and no jacket.   
"Ma’, this tastes amazing, you really outdid yourself today!" Gerardo hummed, "You're a really good cook!"   
"What do you want?" Alma arched an eyebrow, a knowing smile on her lips.  
"My friends want to go ice skating later tonight at the rink in downtown Chicago and I was wondering if I could go." He said bluntly, quickly.   
"Ask your father."  
"Dad? Can I?"  
"Ask your mother." Sam grinned before taking a sip from his can of coke.   
"Guys-! Come on!" Gerardo gave a groan.  
"I wanna go to Chicago too! I wanna skate!" Arsenia chipped in, waving her fork in the air.   
"Well, if Lance agrees to drive you all there, you can go." Alma said, beginning to eat.   
"Me!?" Lance groaned, sinking in his chair, "Why me?!"   
"Because you're old enough to drive! And have a license!" Jonathan had joined in, evidently also excited to go ice skating. 

Keith smiled a bit as the family continued to argue, but not in a bad way, they were joyful, teasing, it made him feel warm. His dark violet eyes gazed down at the plate in front of him, picking up a forkful of rice, bringing it up into his mouth. It tasted really good, closing his eyes as he thought about Lance, and his passion for cooking, wondering if his mother had any influence on that.   
The family was still going on about going to the city and who was driving, and his train of thought began to go to the dark stops of his mind. He thought back to when he had dinners like this with the Shirogane's, the first stable family he had, who cared for him and treated him as their own. He thought back to Atsuka Shirogane, the woman he considered his mother, and always would. She always cooked amazing meals for them. He thought back to Ikuo Shirogane, the man who he considered his father, and his vast knowledge on so many subjects, like the great teacher he was. He thought about Takashi, about 'Shiro'. 

He felt sick.  
The family around him was displaying so much love, so much warmth and comfort.   
He missed his family, the one he could only experience for about 8 years.   
His grip on his fork tightened, and he heard Lance ask him something. 

"...wanna come skating then?" Lance looked over at Keith, but he noticed his odd posture, the drained color on his already pale skin.  
"Keith?"

He couldn't take it.   
His stomach was knotted, his head was pounding, and his chest hurt. He pushed back, chair scraping against the wooden floor as he set the fork down.  
"Sorry, excuse me." he kept his head bowed down, walking quickly out of the kitchen, towards the living room and up the stairs in the corner of it. He opened up the door of Lance's room, looking at his makeshift bed beside Lance's bed, at his stuff thrown around. He walked past to the small door at the corner of the room, into the small bathroom, his hands holding onto the edge of the sink, fingers curled around it. His leg moved out to the side, kicking the door lightly, a small click heard as it closed, his mind still reeling with memories, not just of his family, but also of many others he'd been in. Of every lonely dinner he'd ever had, of every silent day and empty night.  
He looked at himself in the mirror, but his vision was blurred, feeling the streaks of tears burning down his cheeks, and his chest felt so tight, he could hardly breathe. Unable to hold anything back anymore, he leant forward, forehead against the mirror, letting out a sob, ever so quietly, and so terribly broken. 

 

Lance looked around the table at his family, who all looked back to him for an explanation. He didn't really know what the problem was, but he had the slightest idea.   
"He's..." he lowered his voice, "I don’t exactly know what that was…but, he’s got a couple problems, he gets like this sometimes." he mumbled, trying to explain, Alma biting on her bottom lip as she sort of understood.   
Sam nodding beside her as wll.   
"Well, go see if he's okay, Mijo." she smiled softly, waving him off, the rest of the family remaining silent, staring wide-eyed.   
"Yeah, Yeah, right, I was just about to" he nodded, pushing back out of his chair and making his way out to the hallway, jogging up this steps, seeing the door of their bedroom open.

"Keith?" He called out, seeing both beds empty, walking slowly towards the bathroom door, where he could vaguely hear sniffling.  
"Keith, buddy?" 

He heard a sob.  
He reached for the knob immediately, opening the door, only to see Keith curled forward, crying quietly against the mirror.

"Hey, Hey" Lance mumbled, his voice soothing, a long arm reaching forward, pulling Keith towards him.   
He half expected Keith to pull away or even punch him, but he'd never seen him so vulnerable. He was surprised that Keith let himself be pulled in, accepting the embrace when Lance locked his arms around him, Keith falling silent, his breath still shaky.  
"What's wrong?"  
"Sorry, I'm sorry," Keith shook his head, "I just…I just remembered some shit." he mumbled, pulling back from Lance's embrace, who sort of wished it would've lasted longer.  
"Like?" Lance didn't want to be pushy, but talking always helped, and he knew Keith always bubbled himself up, always. "It's fine if you don't want to say anything, alright? But in case you need to, I'll listen to ya' and-"   
"I thought about my family," Keith said, cutting him off. "You have a really nice family Lance, and you guys all get along and it's... it felt nice to be in an environment like that again. But I also felt out of place. I haven't had a family dinner since the accident, I always turned Shiro down when he tried to take me to family dinners with Allura, I locked myself away from something I genuinely loved, because I was scared I'd just lose it again. I never had a family until the Shirogane's." be mumbled, wiping at his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket, his words cracked a little.   
Lance listened, watching him, biting on his bottom lip.  
He wasn't quite sure what to say. He didn't know much about what Keith had been through, in all honesty, he never thought it would've been appropriate to ask. 

"We... You won't lose us, yeah?" Lance started, Keith looking up at him, and Lance felt pained to see him so... small, so open.  
"You'll always be welcome here, and you won't lose us ever" he whispered. 

Keith closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, thinking for a few moments, about what Lance exactly meant. He only knew it was a promise, and he felt a spark of light flicker inside of him at that. Lance promised him to never leave him. And maybe it was his mild attraction to the other male that made him take it that way, but he was satisfied with it.  
"Thank you." he mumbled. 

"No problem, and if you ever need anyone to talk to, you can talk to me... I know that sounds cheesy and shit, but it's true, alright?"   
"Yeah, alright... I should... go apologize for leaving so abruptly."   
"I gave a hypothetical explanation as to why you left, so you don't have to explain anything."   
"Thanks... so... are we going skating later?"  
"Obviously."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooty Hoo just testing out the angsty waters.  
> As always, thank you for returning or giving this a chance! I keep promising more consistent uploads but I think I'm on the right track to stay in time-- sort of.   
> I'm finally free from my first semester which means more time for writing so, stay woke boys.


	4. Pizza

Lance was a surprisingly amazing ice skater.   
His long limbs graceful as he circled around Gerardo and Jonathan, who both wobbled against each other, helping each other stay up, standing.   
His eyes followed Lance's figure, standing with Arsenia beside him, who was playing around and taking pictures with the Cloud Gate sculpture, up near the ledge that displayed a view of the reasonably sized ice rink.   
His eyes wandered to the other people skating, some looked so calm and content, others laughed and fell and laughed even more. It was fun, he had to admit, to watch so many strangers have fun in one place with each other, sharing a joyful experience.   
But he looked back to Lance, easy to spot the bright blue scarf wrapped around his neck, big grey puffy jacket still somehow looking slender on him. 

He was circling on his own now, making larger laps around the rink, his face content, eyes closing even.   
Keith found himself too caught up with watching him, he didn't notice Arsi pulling at the bottom of his coat.   
"Hey Keith! Keith!"   
The voice of the younger girl finally pulled Keith out of his trance, gazing over to her.

"Huh? Oh- sorry, what's up?"   
"What kind of coat is this?" She smoothed her hands over the crisp black of his coat.  
"This is a Lauren Ralph Lauren Labrada." Keith hummed, tilting his head to the side.  
"Cool! Are you rich?"  
"No, not really."  
"How do you have so many cool stuff? You're always wearing cool stuff!"  
"Huh... well, I've been to a lot of Fashion Design workshops, I've met lots of designers, and sometimes, when they liked my work and progress, they gave me money, so, I used those earnings to buy me the clothes I wanted to." he watched her as she shoved her phone back into her pocket, pushing her gloves back on.   
"That sounds cool! Do you think we can walk around? Maybe go window shopping for clothes! I want to make a list of things I want." she sang, reaching to take Keith's leather gloved hand.   
"Yeah sure, I-Hey- wait-! Let’s tell your brothers where we're going at least!" He exclaimed, but it was too late, for Arsenia was already running, the movement waking his legs to push through the biting cold that numbed his legs through his thermal tights and black jeans. 

She rushed them down the steps that led to the sculpture they'd just been standing by.   
Keith pushed his plaid red scarf up over his mouth, the tips of his ears red, his head cold. He'd forgotten a hat, one of the most important things needed to survive winter, especially in a place like Chicago. 

"Hey! Arsi! Hold up."   
She stopped, waiting for him to approach.  
"Before we keep going, the air is biting really bad, so lets..." he bent down a little, reaching to pull her scarf up from covering just her chin, pushing it up over her nose, holding it in place by tucking the fabric behind her ears, pulling her hat down over them, and sealing it all in place by pulling the hood of her thick purple jacket up.   
"There, now we can run without the wind hurting so bad." he smiled, and she laughed, taking his hand and beginning to walk at a reasonable pace.   
He reached down into his pocket, digging around for his phone, finally pulling it out. 

 

Lance was doing laps over and over, it felt nice to skate, he'd do it almost every December with his siblings, having learned in that same rink many years ago along with them.  
He caught on pretty quickly, after learning how to skateboard, balance felt easy to control.   
He kept an eye on both the boys wobbling around the rink, as well as up to the balcony view where he caught Keith looking... at him? After a few more laps, he looked back, only to notice he was gone. He arched an eyebrow, looking around the park and to the street beside the ice rink, catching sight of Keith on his way down the steps, Arsenia tugging him along. Where were they going?  
He was about to call out to them when he noticed Keith adjust his own scarf, and call Arsi back. He felt his cheeks warm up, despite the numbness the cold had caused on his face, as the other male made sure to properly cover Arsenia up, a smile tugging at his lips. He watched them go, the boys breaking him away from the other two as Jonathan hollered with laughter.   
He looked back just in time to see Gerardo crashing against the railing that surrounded the rink, a boisterous laugh leaving his lips as the crash caused several other people behind him to also crash against him, everyone smiling with the exception of a few who dust themselves of wet snow and crawled off on their own way. Lance brought a hand up to his face, sighing as he skated towards them, helping a few people up and finally Gera. 

"What happened there?" He laughed, a buzz in his pocket breaking his attention of his younger brother, who'd begun to bicker with Jonathan.   
He pulled out his phone after pulling off his wool gloves, seeing Keith on the screen. He swiped his thumb over, bringing the phone up to his ear, the first thing he heard was Arsenia’s voice, excitedly chattering away.  
"...Look! Keith! Let's go in here!"  
"Macy's?"  
"Yeah! I love coming here! They have cool clothes!"   
"Ok- just- hold on, I'm calling your brother to let him know we're not there-."  
"Keeeeeeiith!"   
Lance bit back a chuckle, clearing his throat and speaking into the phone.   
"Hey, what’s up?"  
"Oh Lance, hey, uh, me and Arsi kind of left the rink, we're at Macy's now."   
"Awesome, we'll be there in a few, Gerardo just caused mass homicide on the ice; So we should get going as soon as we return the skates."   
"Alright, we'll see you here then."   
"Yep!"  
"Ok..... Bye."   
"Bye! Love you!" Lance hung up.  
And suddenly he wished he could just be hit in the nape of the neck with the blade of a skate.   
What had he just done?   
"Who was that?" Gerardo tilted his head, arching an eyebrow, Jonathan also looking at him.   
He felt himself go red.  
What the hell had he done? Why did he say that?  
Force of habit? Maybe, he said 'Love you' to a lot of people whenever he said bye on the phone, to his mom and dad and siblings... but he was conscious that it was Keith on the other end. Maybe he should just hop on the train and head back to the parking lot where they'd left the car and never ever return to look at Keith in the face.  
He scratched that idea, he couldn't leave Arsi. 

"It... fuck... it was Keith... I don't know why I said that." he pulled on the sides of his hat, letting himself slide across the ice towards the gate of the rink, stumbling onto the concrete, letting himself fall down, sitting.   
Gerardo burst out laughing, pulling himself along the railing towards his older brother, Jonathan snickering right beside him.

"Shut up!" Lance sneered, untying the skates, his brothers doing the same.   
Or at least trying to, they were both laughing so hard they could barely see their laces. 

"Where are they? Keith and Arsi?" Jonathan asked as he grabbed his snow boots, which were beside the rink, with a bunch of other people's shoes.   
"Macy's, the one on State Street I assume." he mumbled, pulling on his boots and standing.   
"So, let's get going!" Gerardo stood up too, being the only one who decided to bring sneakers, which were already damp with ice and snow. 

 

Keith stared at his phone, his face flushing red, feeling warm, not just because of the heat that enveloped him as they entered the store.   
He watched as the 'Call Ended' screen faded, Lance's contact picture, which he'd taken from Facebook (Only for contact picture use, of course), fading along with it. 

"What's wrong?" Arsenia tilted her head, furrowing her eyebrows.  
"Uh... nothing...” he mumbled, locking his phone and putting it back into his pocket.  
"Are you sick again? Lance says you remember bad things sometimes."   
"Oh, no, no it's not that, I haven't remembered anything, I'm alright." he smiled at the girl, "So, what floor should we go to?" 

Arsenia watched Keith as the redness faded from his face, but he still was acting quite strange, almost nervously.   
"How about the 3rd? I think that's where all the Louise Vuitton stuff is." Arsi took his hand again, pulling him along with her, considering he looked like he was about to sprint away.   
"Yeah, alright, sounds good.” Keith mumbled, his eyes glancing around.  
He didn't want to look at Lance, he might scream if he did, his heart was pounding, his body full of dread knowing the other would show up there any second. 

-

"Hey Keith! Let's try some clothes on!"   
Arsenia was looking at a few shirts, trying to mix and match with a jacket or sweater, but she didn't like any of the combinations.   
"You wanna?" Keith hummed, looking down at her choices, pulling off his gloves and shoving them into his pockets, eyes alert, searching for the arrival of Lance and his brothers. Dreading it, really.   
"Yeah... hmm... what could go with this?" She turned to him, showing him a button up top with a cherry pattern print.   
Keith broke away from his paranoia as soon as his opinion was asked for, a hand moving up to his chin, fingers rubbing his jawline. 

"Huh... the pastel pink sweater would give it a very light, cute vibe, the brown leather jacket would give it a much more... hipster vibe? Maybe? It depends on what you're going for" he picked up the pink knitted sweater, the leather jacket in the other, bringing both up to the shirt Arsi held up.  
"Let's take the leather jacket, it looks cooler!" She smiled. "What're you gonna try on?" She looked over to the other side of the store, humming.   
"The guy clothes are in the floor beneath us..." she realized with dismay.  
"I don't mind wearing girl clothes you know, I own a few." he amended, smiling a bit.  
"Ooh! Perfect, I see something you'd look good in!" She pointed to two things.   
A fitted crop top, the neckline and sleeves made of transparent black fabric, and a red, long, sleeveless jacket. The combination, he had to admit, was good, but he felt a bit embarrassed. He was given, however, no time to accept or deny the choice, because Arsi had already picked the clothes and rushed to the dressing rooms, Keith following behind her.   
"Here, I'll change in this one, and you next to me.” she announced, handing him his top and jacket.  
He gave a slight sigh, moving to unbutton his jacket, hearing the ruffling from Arsi's side as she moved to try on her clothes.   
He had just pulled his shirt off when his phone buzzed inside his jacket.  
It was a text from Lance.  
'Hey, we may take a while, I lost my fucking car keys somewhere around here'.

Keith snorted, quickly typing back a 'K, we're just trying out clothes. Take your time', and shoving his phone back into the hanging jackets pocket.   
"Are you done?" He heard Arsi, along with the creak of a door, indicating she'd just walked out of her dressing room.   
"Yeah, nearly." he called, pulling on the shirt, tugging it and realizing it didn't go beneath his navel, a small hum leaving his lips as he looked at the long mirror on the side, checking his hips and stomach from front and side, even back. He didn't look too bad, admittedly.  
He quickly pulled on the sleeveless jacket, walking out towards Arsenia, who had her phone out, already taking, or trying to take, multiple pictures in the larger mirror in the general room where the dressing stalls were.  
"Keith! Smile!" She moved the camera so both would show, just from the shoulders up.  
Keith looked up at the phone, a small smirk on his lips on instinct.  
"Wow... you look hot... you've gotta show me how to do that so quickly." Arsi laughed.  
"What? Smirk? That's not really hard."   
"But that /look/! They're like total... I don't know... you look so /fierce/."   
"Thanks. I've never ever been described as fierce"   
To this, Arsenia started laughing, turning her phone camera, so it was forward. She was trying to find a good angle, trying to stand in a flattering way, but Keith noticed the struggle.  
"Here." he said, taking her phone.  
"Stand with you hip cocked to one side... make it your left... a hand on the opposite hip, yeah.. now, shoulders rolled back, head up straight, push your neck out just a little, tilt your head a little if you want too.."   
He instructed her until she stood in a much better position, he himself standing with his back against hers, being only a bit taller than her, considering she was rather tall for her age.   
He cocked his hip out, a hand up behind his head, one hand stretched out, facing the mirror, a knee bent a bit.   
He snapped the picture, both laughing a bit as they left their ridiculous poses.

"Woah, we look great... how'd you know how to pose?"  
"Basics.... in one Fashion workshop we had to design our own outfit and then model it, so we got a crash course in modeling... it was pretty embarrassing, but at least now I know how to look good in pictures." he chuckled.   
"Nice!" She skipped back, taking a few more snapshots, making silly poses and faces at some point, Keith joining in, laughing a bit as she uploaded each picture to her Snapchat, a warm smile adorning her face.  
She put her phone away finally, striding over to a low, wide bench at the far center of the dressing room, hopping onto it and standing at the far end.   
"Teach me how to walk like a model!" 

 

Lance was ready to scream. They'd searched every possible place for the keys.  
Except his own pockets.  
They hadn't made any noise, being pressed against the fluff of his jacket, and after nearly turning the rink and park inside out, Lance reached into the wrong pocket to take out his phone, only to find the keys instead. Gerardo and Jonathan were howling with laughter the instant Lance pulled them out and stared at the god forsaken keys, angrily shoving them back into the pocket and jerking his head at his brothers to indicate they should follow him. He huffed, he was already stressed out over the not so accidental, accidental 'love you' comment, the key incident driving him to his edge. 

"So what're you gonna say about the whole 'Lov-" Gerardo began, but Lance shot him a murderous look.   
"Hey! Don't look at me like that! Listen, you said it because you probably feel that way about him, you've known him for a while, right? So it's not weird or anything."   
"Since when did you become this sentimental? What is High School doing to my baby brother?" Lance joked, half ignoring his comment, mostly because he knew he was right.   
"I'm /16/! I'm literally 5 years younger than you!"   
"5 very long year.” Lance hummed, turning towards the street that would lead them straight down to the Macy's.  
"What time are we going home?" Jonathan piped up, jogging up to walk in between his two older brothers.   
"Right after this I guess, we just have to pick Arsi and... Keith, up." Lance mumbled, his cheeks red, the tint completely unrelated to the harsh wind.   
Pushing through the revolving doors and walking into a warm, friendly atmosphere was exactly what Lance needed to calm down. He kindly turned down offers from the fragrances department, where'd they'd entered from, making their way straight to the same floor Arsenia always dragged them to, the 3rd floor.

-

"Really good job! Remember, keep your feet- like this." Keith demonstrated, practiced, experienced steps as he walked down the bench, standing next to Arsi, circling back.   
"You go."   
Arsenia was having a blast, also strutting down the bench, reaching the end just in time for Lance, Gerardo and Jonathan to show up, all three peeking into the dressing room before toppling over. The perks of the store being nearly empty and being huge meant less of an opportunity to get in trouble for being rowdy.

"Lance! Gera! Jon! Keith is teaching me how to walk and pose like a model!" She cheered, posing in one of the ways she'd been taught, looking high and mighty.   
"You know how to model?" Jonathan asked Keith, who's face was extremely red, considering the look Lance was giving at him. He could practically /feel/ his eyes looking over his current outfit. 

"I-uh- Yeah, a little, I had a crash course on it in one of the Fashion Design programs I participated in.." he gave a small, sheepish smile.  
"You look great" Lance mumbled, his eyes cast down as he complemented the other.   
"Thank you.."   
"Well! We should head home before it gets too late, it's already 9:30.” Gerardo cleared his throat, the awkward silence breaking, thankfully.

"Look! We took pictures!" Arsenia ran over to Lance, hopping around.   
"Did you take your meds?"   
"Nope! Look!" She shoved her phone into his face, and Keith blushed even harder when he noticed Lance's eyebrows shoot up, his own mind going through and remembering each picture they'd taken.   
"I'm- gonna change back now then." he called as he walked down the bench, hopping off and zipping back towards his dressing room, shutting and locking the stall, staring at himself in the mirror, and if it weren't for the siblings outside, he would've started screaming.

 

Lance knew he was staring too obviously at Keith, but holy shit he looked good, and he swore he could feel himself sweating. He was relieved Arsi had jumped too him, showing him the pictures they'd taken, but immediately the relief turned into the opposite of that, because Keith looked fucking amazing. And unfortunately, the blood rushing up to his cheeks also began rushing elsewhere.  
Shit.  
"You guys look great! Why don't you go change so we can head on out of here? Mamá's gonna get worried if we're out too late." Lance gently pat his sisters shoulder, and she nodded, making her way to her changing stall.  
He stood a little awkwardly, trying to find a way to stand without making anything too obvious, shoving both of his hands into his pocket.  
"Dude." Gerardo snorted, a small wheeze leaving his lips, having caught Lance's... problem.  
"You- Shut the fuck up!" Lance narrowed his eyes, leaning back against a wall, a leg crossed over the other, trying to look casual. 

"Alright, I'm ready" Keith walked out just then, seeing the two brothers exchange strange looks, giving them both a strange look.  
"What?"   
"Lance has to go to the bathroom, you should go with him, we'll wait for Arsi!" Gerardo sang, sitting next to Jonathan who was playing on his phone, all attention focused on the screen, unaware of what was happening.  
"No! I mean-, I don't have to go that bad." Lance shot Gera a glare.   
"Um, alright" Keith walked to the rack near the door, hanging the shirt and sweater onto it, with other clothes people had tried on.  
"You looked good.....in that." Lance mumbled, his cheeks burning, Keith's just as equally.  
"Thanks." he mumbled, about to ask about the phone call incident, but deciding it wasn't really the right time. 

"I'm ready!" Arsenia ran out, hanging up her two pieces in the rack.  
"Alright! Let's get going guys." Lance pushed himself off the wall, trying to keep relaxed stances but also trying to hide the sudden tightness of his jeans. He walked out in front of everyone, Gerardo making sure to distract them all by telling them about his ice skating incident, as well as the car key hunt than ended up being a waste of time, and Lance was quite thankful for that. 

Once they walked out of the store, the Windy City chill hit them like a truck.   
"My snot is frozen." Jonathan announced as they began walking down the long street blocks, the parking lot they'd chosen to park in (because it was the cheapest) was quite far away from where they were, or at least it felt far away, especially in their current cold condition.  
"Thanks for letting us know" Lance rolled his eyes, watching over his sibling as they walked a little ahead.   
Keith couldn't believe he'd actually forgotten a hat, piling his scarf up over his nose, making sure Arsenia was also well covered.  
After she walked off with her brothers, he glanced over at Lance, who caught his gaze.  
"You don't have a hat?" The taller male arched an eyebrow, voice muffled through his scarf.  
"No, I forgot it in your room." he replied, equally muffled, both speaking a bit louder to be able to hear each other better.  
"Here..." Lance stopped walking, Keith also stopping and lingering by him to see what was up.   
Lance pulled off his blue, plaid, ear flap hat, (Which Keith had made fun of initially), and pulled it on over Keith's head, pushing it down gently by the flaps until his entire head, except his eyes, was covered. He pulled on the hood from both the sweater he wore underneath the large puffy jacket, pulling the strings so it tightened around his own head, and finally pulled up his coat hood, his mouth covered, but his eyes smiling at Keith.  
"Uh- thanks-" Keith was so glad his face was hidden, because he was sure the warmth he felt was his face becoming red, rather than the warmth of the new hat on his head.   
"No problem.” Lance began walking again, catching up to the three teens who hadn't noticed the minor delay of the two males behind them. The cold, thankfully, had gotten rid of Lance's problem for him, making the ride home very pleasant. Jonathan took over the AUX cord, blasting some trap music, the siblings laughing and dancing in the backseat of the, old, tired minivan that belonged to their mother, Keith watching them from the mirror, laughing lightly to himself. 

"Why don't you dance, Keith?" Arsenia asked, scooting forward to look at him.  
He'd sunk comfortably against the car seat, nestled warmly in his coat, scarf and Lance's hat.  
"Oh- this isn't really... my music taste." he shrugged, and suddenly Jonathan paused the music, unplugged his phone, and shoved it forward, and Keith knew he was fucked.  
"Play us some of your music! What do you like? Hip hop? Pop?" The younger boy asked, leaning to one side.  
Keith glanced over at Lance, who's face looked mildly interested despite having his eyes focused on the road.   
"Uh..." he took the cord, digging his phone out of his pocket, slowly plugging it in.  
"I guess... you can't... well, there's not much dancing to this" he mumbled, opening his music and hitting the shuffle button, there was no point in hiding his strange taste in music anyway. When the first notes to Trevor Something's "Girlfriend" began playing, Keith inhaled.  
What an ironic pick.  
He watched and waited for a reaction or comments, but only received swaying dance moves from Jonathan, Gerardo and Arsenia, which he had to admit, made him smile warmly. It felt good, it felt like he belonged, he felt loved and wanted and happy. Genuine feelings he thought he'd never feel again unless he was with Shiro all the time. He trailed off, thinking about everything, about his families, trying to think of a time where he'd once felt the same way he did at that moment.

"Hey"   
Keith blinked, looking over at Lance, who was gazing at him with mild concern before turning his gaze to the front again.  
"You alright?" Lance had caught Keith in the middle of daydreaming or remembering things many times, and he'd learned by now that not all things he remembers were good, so he felt worry every time there was a distance he could never cross in the others deep, dark violet eyes.  
"Um, Yeah, sorry... I was just thinking."  
"About?"  
"Just, families and stuff.."  
"Is this about earlier? Dinner?"   
"No- No, that's over with.... I just feel... I feel happy to be here, y'know? I feel like I'm with Shiro and his-our parents- again."   
Lance arched an eyebrow, giving a small "Ohh" and smiling, slowing as the drove farther down into the fields, houses becoming less frequent, barns beginning to show up, passing suburbs.   
"You're always gonna be welcome with us, Keith, you and your strange taste in music." he laughed, Keith about to defend his likes, but Lance's laugh was too contagious, and it beat him to it. 

 

Coming home to boxes of pizza was a really great way to end the night, Mrs.McClain had bought one for Jonathan, Gerardo and Arsi, and another one for Lance and Keith, because 'The bigger boys eat a lot more than you three'.   
After disrobing from the heavy winter clothing, Lance ran to snatch two cokes and their pizza box, whispering to Keith to hurry and run up to their room so they could hang there. Keith did as ordered, honestly ready to flop down onto his makeshift bed on the floor beside Lance's bed, he was exhausted. But he had to remember the phone call as soon as Lance closed the door behind them, kicking off his socks and padding onto his blankets, letting himself slide down into them, face down flat shading the pillow, laying on his stomach. He wanted to die before even mentioning the phone call.  
"Want pizza? Or did you just shut down?" Lance laughed, sitting up on his bed, opening the box and leaving one coke can near Keith. "You can come eat up here." he added as Keith sluggishly got into his knees, arched across the bed for his coke and a slice, and slid back down.  
"I rather like my little bed, thank you." he called out, mouth full of cheese, god the pizza was absolutely amazing, and Keith realized he hadn't really finished his dinner after leaving earlier.   
They ate in silence, mostly, every now and then Lance would laugh at some video or meme he scrolled past on Facebook, making sure to show Keith every single one he found. Keith's phone buzzed as he reached for another slice, glancing down at the screen.  
'Hey, how are things going?'   
It was from Shiro. He smiled a little, holding his slice with one hand as he chewed, wiping his free hand and picking up the phone, typing in a quick reply.  
'Hi. Things are surprisingly not bad, I'm kinda having fun'  
'Is this Lance? Did you abduct my brother?'  
'You're not funny,, it's not that bad,, something happened earlier actually'  
'Something....?'  
'I had a breakdown'  
'Oh..You haven't had one of those in a while.. you ok?'  
'Yeah, Lance comforted me... he hugged me. and then a few hours ago we went downtown, he said 'I love you' through the phone,,,, I think it was a mistake of course'  
'Did you ask?'  
'...'  
'Keith'  
'I really don't want to bring it up, neither does he I guess, this is fine'  
'Talk to him, if it really bothers you'  
'It doesn't... really bother me'

 

Lance had been shuffling around for a while, deciding to give Keith some space and time. Whether he actually doing it for Keith and not himself was debatable. He felt awkward, he didn't want to talk about what happened, but it was going to keep bothering him for the rest of eternity. He pushed himself up and off his bed, picking up the pizza box, 3 slices left.  
"You gonna want some more?" He spoke up, Keith looking up from his phone.  
"Oh, uh, no thanks" he gave a light smile, but he looked like he was in pain as he texted a reply to whoever he was talking to.   
"Alright... I'll be right back then."   
The taller male made his way towards the door, pausing near the frame.  
“Hey- um, Keith?” Lance turned around a bit, looking towards the other, whose attention turned up to him.  
“Yeah…?”   
“Sorry if I weirded you out or something earlier, y’know, with the phone call.”   
“Oh, no, it’s cool.”   
“I just tend to always hang up by saying that, I wasn't really thinking much about it…”   
“Don't worry about it, alright? Go put the pizza away.” Keith gave a light smile, waving a hand at the other male, seeing him nod and smile back before turning to walk out finally.  
He wasn't sure why, but Keith felt the disappointment sink down in him. So he hadn't received a confession he somehow hoped he'd get at some point, he'd only received the truth he dreaded. ‘It was just an accident. A small silly mistake.’ He sighed, letting himself lay back against his blankets, letting his eyes close and hoping everything would be less awkward when he woke, allowing the remaining wafting warm smell of pizza lure him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaahhgg i had a lot of fun writing this one, developing sibling relationships and some more awkward happenings haha^^ 
> 
> Thank you everyone for your comments and kudos and bookmarks! I haven't replied to everyone's comments yet and I'm sorry! But I do appreciate every single one of you who take the time to read my work, I didn't expect it to be so well received haha
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this one! Get ready for some time skippings~

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone... long time no post haha,, ANYWAY, I'll try to be consistent with my updates, and it being December 1st, I thought it was an appropriate time.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it!


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